Commissioner hears concerns

Mental health and addictions service users voiced their concerns to Mental Health Commissioner Lynne Lane when she visited Masterton last week.

Ms Lane's visit was routine, although Supporting Families Wairarapa manager Tracey Towns said it was timely follow-up to a visit late last year.

"It was timely, with the amount of people who came ... there are concerns and they can now be fed into improving the service," she said.

Supporting Families Wairarapa lost funding when Wairarapa DHB contracted Pathways and CareNZ to deliver mental health and addiction services last November, reducing providers from seven to three.

"There's a feeling there's a lack of a funded service for families," said Ms Towns.

Although the service still works with families, it was difficult to resource without funding, she said.

"One of the points we discussed is that in the last six or seven months we have had 52 referrals for families. There's ongoing support for about 30 families, and the other 22 required education sessions or meetings," Ms Towns said.

The discussion highlighted the success of the "what's working, what's not" meetings which Supporting Families facilitates with Wairarapa DHB representatives, which families can request when they want to discuss issues.

About 30 service users and their families came to the meeting with the commissioner, which was followed by visits to mental health providers Pathways and Te Hauora Runanga O Wairarapa. Ms Towns said those who attended the meeting felt the commissioner heard their concerns and would accurately relay them to the appropriate people.

Service user Peter Critchley of Masterton said he felt the commissioner was open to what the group had to say.

"Confidentiality issues were brought up, concerns about a lack of consumer representation, issues about the corporate model with CareNZ, like being given three months to get well and then having the case closed," Mr Critchley said.

A spokeswoman for the Health and Disability Commissioner said it was inappropriate to comment to media on the visit, and the commissioner would usually meet the DHB chief executive to give feedback.

The commissioner then provides a letter outlining what was working well and any concerns unidentified, which is also given to the Minister of Health, and a summary report is then posted on the Health and Disability Commissioner website.

There is a formal follow-up in six months' time.

Wairarapa DHB declined to comment on the commissioner's visit.